Is it the end of the Premium Cable Era? The answer is, only if HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and others do not adapt to the changing world of technology. To use a term discussed in lectures they could be a product of Digital Darwinism if they do not adapt. As Netflix has become a monster in the DVD world sending BlockBuster to the edge of bankruptcy and now continues its dominance into instant viewing/streaming on the internet. This has many of the Premium channels worried , as they should be. For decades these channels have made their profit from licensing movies, from production companies, and showing them on their channels for relatively low prices. But now with Netflix encroaching on their market they must make drastic changes. I must note in recent years these channels have moved from just showing movies to writing/producing their own products such as one hour drama, sitcoms, and mini-series. To their benefit many of these shows have a cult following and have won many awards.
However, these Premium channels have now got to be creative and find other ways to keep the viewers attention so they don't go the way of BlockBuster. A start to this is, continuing to produce their own shows, but much more than that has to be done to fight the monster that is Netflix. I don't begin to have the answer for this but I do think it is possible to be done. For example, Showtime is now licensing Weeds to Netflix, for streaming, 90 days after they first show. This allows Showtime to make extra money not only from DVD's but now from online viewing. HBO has yet to licence any of their shows to Netflix for streaming, but I believe they will ultimately have to if they want to keep up.
Basically people: Until these channels find a way to not go extinct please continue to watch them because I will truly be upset if they are gone and I can't watch True Blood anymore :)
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_39/b4196021822248.htm
Kim you bring up a great point. Netflix offers virtually any show for what is it $9/month? That's potentially much cheaper than setting up a showtime subscription! So you're worry is that neflix will draw customers away from the showtime subscriptions and cause showtime/hbo to lose viewership. My response to that is don't worry about it. Netflix offers great convenience and a wide selection but that is only possible if their distribution channels stay open. It is in netflix's best interest to keep showtime hbo etc... afloat. Now i' not suggesting that netflix wants every tv show/movie to be produced for its benefit. But the giants of cable do represent a significant percentage of the viewership market. I think we can expect more of a symbiotic relationship with netflix and less of a parasitic one. Also, i would be mistaken if i did not mention the economy. Fortunately for TV people want to escape the bad economy and it is driving viewership up. So chin up, I think it'll all be just fine.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jacob in his suggestion not to worry about it. I think that HBO and Showtime have actually done tremendous jobs responding to forces like Netflix. Since Netflix and Redbox have pretty much replaced every other method of watching movies at one's convenience, HBO and Showtime have shifted their focus from showing movies, to the production of original premium cable content. That is their bread and butter now, and those channels can do a lot to restrict the viewing of those shows through Netflix. In order to see new episodes of any of the HBO or Showtime programs, you have to have purchased the channel, and if they want to restrict people from watching them on Netflix all those channels have to do is delay the DVD releases of those shows. Netflix has absolutely nothing to gain through direct competition with HBO and Showtime, unless they want to get into the business of producing the majority of the most well-done shows on TV. The one thing I think those channels (at least HBO) need to worry about is the bloated budgets of some of their shows. And renewing contracts for miserably unentertaining shows like "Hung".
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